Balanced Communities & Studentification

I attended the Councillors Campaign for Balanced Communities Conference in Nottingham on 13 March 2008.

At this conference, the National HMO Lobby launched its new publication, “Balanced Communities & Studentification”. This booklet follows publications by universities and by students on students and communities – but this time, it puts the community’s point of view. It does three things in particular:-

  • explains what a balanced community is (and why it matters);
  • explains what studentification is – and why it is such a problem for communities; and
  • suggests a Ten Point Plan, which should be adopted by local councils and other stakeholders, to tackle the root problem of studentification.

The booklet is available on the Lobby’s website at http://hmolobby.org.uk/39articles.pdf

Please take a look and let me know your views on this important topic for the future of Oldfield Park and the wider city of Bath.

Locally schools in top 10 nationally

It’s official, our local schools are in the top 10 local authorities for its outstanding Key Stage 3 results.

Cllr Sandry and Cllr McGall are thrilled that we are joint 3rd ranking for science, 8th position in English, and joint 9th in mathematics.

Some three quarters of all 14-year-old pupils in Bath and North East Somerset (actually 76%) attained level 5+ in both English and mathematics in 2007, this is a new measure of achievement and ranks Bath & North East Somerset Council in 8th position, nationally.

Well done to the hard work and dedication of the students, their teachers and families.

Locally schools in top 10 nationally

It’s official, our local schools are in the top 10 local authorities for its outstanding Key Stage 3 results.

Cllr Sandry and Cllr McGall are thrilled that we are joint 3rd ranking for science, 8th position in English, and joint 9th in mathematics.

Some three quarters of all 14-year-old pupils in Bath and North East Somerset (actually 76%) attained level 5+ in both English and mathematics in 2007, this is a new measure of achievement and ranks Bath & North East Somerset Council in 8th position, nationally.

Well done to the hard work and dedication of the students, their teachers and families.

PACT meeting – Wednesday 5th March 2008

Partners and Communities Together (PACT) gives you a chance to meet the team and influence priorities in your neighbourhood.

Current public priorities were established on 17th December 2007:

1. Levels of car crime – criminal damage to vehicles in Monksdale Road.

2. Litter – increase road sweeping.

3. Speeding in Third Avenue, Monksdale Road and Hillside Road.

Next public meeting5th March 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at St Alphages Church, Oldfield Lane, Oldfield Park, Bath.

All members of the public are welcome to attend…

7.56% is real tax increase in Council budget

7.56% is the real tax increase residents are facing this year. Directly, residents are going to be charged a 3.95% Council tax increase. However, with all of the hikes in other fees and charges and the introduction of new fees planned by the Conservative Cabinet, the real figure is 7.56%.

New and increased charges in this budget include: the introduction of charges for on-street parking for disabled drivers; increases in charges for services for older people; an increase of 56% for residents’ parking permits; increases in park and ride fares; extensions to other car park charges; and a 10% increase in garden and bulky waste charges.

This Conservative budget appears to have a low Council tax rise, but when all the other charges and fees are taken into account, the real burden on residents is much higher.

The budget will hit vulnerable people with high charges; it will punish drivers, without improving traffic flows; it will delay, put off or abandon important environmental measures, such as same-day collection and extending recycling; and it will exacerbate problems through cuts to the Council’s youth and other services.

The Liberal Democrats believe this Tory budget of service cuts and increased charges is fundamentally flawed. We have fought hard for improvements, and will be proposing an amendment which is intended to reduce the burden on older people and the vulnerable, to help protect services for young people and to put environmental protection high on the agenda.

By trying to claim a low Council tax increase on the one hand and introducing new fees and increased charges on the other, the Tory Cabinet is driving our authority into the sand, putting its head in after it and blaming everyone else.

Council votes to get rid of bottled water

A Liberal Democrat motion calling on the Council to stop buying bottled water for its meetings and offices and to use tap water instead was adopted last week.

This motion was an initiative by the Liberal Democrat Group and we were delighted that it gained the support of Councillors from other Groups. The Council has established a principle against the purchase bottled water and can now move forward to look at the implementation of this motion.

We have been working on this issue for several months and the adoption of this motion is very timely, given that within the last fortnight major campaigns have been launched encouraging people to drink tap water and ask for it in restaurants.

The Council should not be spending public money on bottled water when we have perfectly good tap water, which is hundreds of times cheaper, does not need to be transported and does not need the packaging which must be recycled or ends up in landfill or as litter.

There are great concerns about the wider issues such the effect it has on the water systems of areas where bottling takes place and the marketing strategies of bottled water companies. Our Council has taken a lead on this issue, to do something practical locally and set an example.

Councillors voted 32 in favour to 29 against the motion, sadly the Conservative Group did not support the final motion.

“No waiting at any time” parking restrictions

On the 13th February the Council made the following order as modified, under provisions contained in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as amended, the effect of which will vary ‘no waiting at any time’ parking restrictions and increase the time for limited waiting from 20 minutes to 30 minutes in certain roads in Bath. The affected roads include Ashford Road and Cotswold Road.

Any queries contact Michael Harper on 394203 who will pass them on to the instructing officer.

Council implements Lib Dem waste policies

The announcement that the Council will be moving towards same-day collections and food waste collections is to be welcomed.

Councillors Sandry and McGall welcome the proposed introduction of food waste collection and the same day collection of waste and recycling. These are proposals which the Lib Dems initiated in the period 2005 to 2007 and we are pleased to see them moving towards implementation, albeit with some delay – the plans that Cllr Curren (Lib dem, Twerton) was working on would have brought in these new arrangements this Spring.

On the whole, same day collection will simplify things for residents who may currently have three different collection days. However there is also the downside that in some places it clutter on busy pavements or in important visitor areas could be a problem – Lib Dem Councillors will be asking the Cabinet how they plan to address this potential problem.

We will also be asking the Cabinet to reveal more details about of the timescale of the implementation or the details of how the food waste will be collected – for example, we will be wanting to know what type of vehicles will be used, where the food waste will be taken for composting (our waste should not be being transported long distances) and what will happen to the compost produced! We also want to know what equipment will be provided to residents – the Liberal Democrats believe that biodegradable liners for food bins and counter-top caddies would help ensure that the food waste collection is convenient and hygienic.

“Grave concerns” over increase in Home Care charges

Cllr Will Sandry, a members of the Council’s Healthier Communities and Older People Overview and Scrutiny Panel has commented on this weeks meeting when he questioned the proposed 74% increase in Home Care charges.

The Lib Dem Councillors on the Panel accepted that service users should pay the actual cost of the care they receive, providing that they are in a position to pay for it. However Will had grave concerns that this proposed immediate increase of 74% will place up to 90 service users in a very difficult financial position.

Will and the other Lib Dem members wanted to instruct Conservative Cabinet Member, Cllr Vic Prichard, not to increase the charges by 74%, but unfortunately the Overview and Scrutiny panel does not have that authority. The Liberal Democrat Group was unable to support the draft recommendations and as a result of this the Overview and Scrutiny panel did not move to a vote and will therefore formally “express concerns” over the proposed increase.

Cllr Vic Prichard was at the meeting and is therefore now fully aware of the strength of our concerns.